Know your Thought Patterns and you Know your Chances for Success

Research by leading universities in the field of cognitive and behavioral science proves the existence of so called “automatic thoughts”, i.e. thoughts that come to mind involuntarily and effortlessly as an automatic response to certain stimuli. These are the thoughts that ultimately determine whether you’ll fail or succeed.

The average person processes over 60’000 separate thoughts per day, of which 90% occur subconsciously. Automatic thoughts are produced by our subconscious mind and continue to execute without the involvement of our conscious mind. Think about how many things you just do, day in day out, without even consciously thinking about it. These automatic thoughts are like mini computer programs in our subconscious minds. They automatically come into action as a response to stimuli in our environment.

While many automatic thoughts are positive, some of them can create undesirable limitations in terms of our ability to evolve and progress – you could call them “success blockers”. They simply prevent us from progressing or being successful in certain areas. Automatic thoughts determine your thought patterns, attitudes and behaviors. The reactions we then observe from your environment validate your thoughts.

Certain negative “automatic thoughts” are triggered by common negative deeply rooted belief and thought patterns with groups of people who experience the same or similar challenges and limitations. Conversely, observations of successful people reveal that many of their successes can be attributed to distinct set of positive cognitive patterns in their belief system.

Thanks to continued research, we now have much more accurate insight into positive as well as negative cognitive patterns. Identifying and recognizing these very patterns forms the foundation of effective cognitive conditioning. Let’s have a look at some success enabling patterns:

Success Enabling Thought Patterns

• Believing in your Unique Skills, Talents and Capabilities – Believing in our own innate skills, talents and capabilities is not only important from a professional development perspective; it also enables you to align your uniqueness in its entirety with your potential. Several studies reveal that we are the happiest and most effective when we can utilize our individual abilities to the highest degree possible. The objective is to allow you to raise beyond your current limitations and maximize your personal potential.

• Viewing Life as a “Platform” for Opportunities- Viewing life as a big platform of opportunities opens doors for opportunities to materialize. It focuses our minds on the possibilities rather than the limitations. Have you ever wondered why some people seem to have a disproportionate amount of luck? They seem to be at the right place at the right time or meet the right people at the right time. The truth is that it isn’t mere luck, most of these people consciously as well as unconsciously look for opportunities and find them, because their mind is open and receptive to opportunities.

• Accepting and Expecting Positive Change – Change has a tendency to reward people who embrace it. Welcoming change also means having the courage to explore new areas of potential success. An open attitude toward change is essential for positive change to take place.

• Feeling Empowered and in Charge – Accepting responsibility for your own destiny and feeling empowered to shape your destiny according to your ideas is a key success factor. Successful people don’t look for other people or circumstances to shape their destiny. They actively take control and create their destiny.

• Self Confidence and Self Esteem – A healthy level of self confidence and self esteem is not only necessary, it is essential for any kind of success we seek achieve. Only when you’re comfortable with who you are and confident in what you can do, will other people believe in you and your abilities. This applies both to your personal as well as your professional life.

• Living with Purpose – All successful and generally happy people display high levels of purpose and action orientation. They keep their goals in mind, act on their ideas, follow through with their plans and stay the course until they achieve what they want.

• Accepting and Offering Help – Many people have a hard time asking others for help. They confuse accepting help from others with weakness. This couldn’t be farther from reality. Most successful people know about the importance of seeking and accepting help. They achieve their goals by leveraging other people’s skills and strengths that they themselves lack. At the same time they offer their help to others and create mutually beneficial relationships.

• Seeing Setbacks as Opportunities for Progression – Most successful people will tell you that they have had their share of setbacks. What sets them them apart is that they accept setbacks as a natural phenomenon and have the ability to stay focused on their long term goals. Setbacks are often accompanied by opportunities and it is key that you continue to look for these opportunities while you experience setbacks.
Do you “own” all these success enablers? If not, focus on adopting the ones you don’t own and continue to build on the others.

While adopting positive success enabling cognitive patterns is extremely important in terms of reaching your goals, it is of equal importance to eliminate limiting thought patterns (“success blockers”) that continue to stand in the way of personal growth, progress and success. The following is only a partial list of typical “success blockers”:

Negative Thought Patterns

• Feeling “not good enough” – One of the key reasons why most people never reach their full potential is rooted in various forms of mostly unconscious beliefs of not being good enough. Although most people don’t like to admit it, it continues to lead the charts of top “success blockers”.

• Resistance to Change – Resisting change is mostly coupled with fear of the unknown. It is often evidenced by people who despite their unhappiness with their situation experience resistance to exploring opportunities for change. This resistance to change often leads to missed opportunities for advancement.

• Dependencies or Co-dependencies – Perceptions of dependencies and co-dependencies come in many forms. The result, however, is mostly the erroneous belief that our happiness and success is dependent on certain people, actions or circumstances outside of our control.

• Blaming Others for Missed Opportunities – We’ve all experienced instances where we thought other people stood in the way of our success. If these experiences turn into core beliefs that we carry with us, consciously or unconsciously, we not only create excuses for not progressing , but also obstacles to recognize ways to work around them and achieve our goals.

• Negative Expectations – The are multiple roots causing attitudes of negative expectations. Negative expectations in life tend to create self fulfilling prophesies. If our mindset reflects an attitude of “I can’t possibly do or achieve that”, chances are that these predictions will become a reality. People with generally negative expectations often feel that life is a constant struggle and the next negative event is just around the corner. Imagine an athlete going into the Olympic games thinking “I’m can’t possibly win”, or a CEO of a company thinking “I don’t believe we’ll ever succeed here”. Releasing negative expectations is key to any form of success you may want to achieve.

• I-don’t-deserve Attitudes – I-don’t-deserve attitudes are often deeply rooted beliefs connected with beliefs of inferiority. Because we unconsciously believe that we don’t deserve to strive for or achieve certain things, we either “go into the game” with low expectations for success, or often don’t even try. The result is often that we simply miss out.

• Being a Victim of Circumstances – Victims of circumstances tend to accept unhappiness, mediocrity or failure as part of their destiny. Victims of circumstances often feel helpless, they think cannot or don’t know how to do or achieve certain things. They often miss to realize that they have the power to change their circumstances. Therefore, they don’t empower themselves to take control in shaping their circumstances according to their wishes.

• Procrastination and Passivity – Positive change always requires an orientation toward action. The best objectives and plans don’t mean much if there’s lack of action and follow-through. And yet, one of the top reasons most people don’t progress or fail to achieve their goals is because they don’t follow through.

• Earning Approval or Love of Others – Cognitive patterns reflecting the necessity to earn the approval or love of other people can create serious limitations on many fronts. These attitudes divert our thoughts, behaviors and actions from our own individual needs and goals to doing to what’s good for someone else. We can be supportive and helpful to others while staying true to ourselves.

• Rational Excuses for Irrational Behavior – Rational excuses for irrational behavior come to light when we find “good reasons” for why certain things can’t be done, or why we do things that shouldn’t be done. Excuses, even if packaged in rational sounding reasons, can’t hide the fact that we’re still

Are You Talking Yourself to Success?

Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it – Chinese Proverb

Success is not something that just happens; not even to the gurus who seem to have cash gushing out of their very pores. Successful people follow a pattern of habitual positive attitudes and actions that includes positive phrasing when they speak.

Are you a person with a negative attitude? Perhaps you have difficulty seeing the better side of problems or stumbling blocks?

Successful people actually see the new possibilities available to them when the merde begins to hit the propeller. This is not a magical talent that produces successful ventures at will, but a combination of a learned mind-set and a determined plan of action that is totally positive.

When you can see only the negative in something, you destroy any chance of being successful with your online ventures.

Have you noticed how successful people do things in a certain way, following their well-tested plan of action? They rarely vary from what they know works. I’m not saying that they don’t test other processes, they do — they just don’t mess with success — why would they?

Whether you’re speaking (or writing) to one person or a group, your language has to be positive. People make judgments about you after reading or listening to what you have to say and HOW you say it. This is particularly true if you are communicating with to successful marketers. Negativity is definitely not in their personality.

Negative speech almost always leads to constant complaining and creates a negative or hostile work environment. Your readers and clients do not want to be brought down when they are considering buying one of your products. If you’re a forum member, the chances are you’ll be discounted if you’re always negative in your posts.

Here’s a few common negative statements I’m sure we’ve all come across which I would advise you to avoid:

There’s no such thing as a free lunch!

This blanket statement is so negative and pessimistic that it puts a downer on any plan being proposed before it even gets off the ground. Before anyone can add to the proposal or suggest anything positive, the entire plan just got a negative focus by that statement.

Successful Internet Marketers would never say that. Instead, they would be looking for possibilities to turn a negative into a positive. Success is a total mindset and those who toss negative attitudes out of their business get ahead.

I can’t …

What a waste of breath this declaration is to any forward progress. Before you even get started, you have given up. Succeeding is mostly believing you can do something and then doing it. Never say you can’t, because you can. If you don’t know how to do something just ask.

I know this is a stupid question, but …

Asking the question won’t get you labeled as “stupid,” but the way you phrase it might. When you use that terminology to lead into your question you are putting yourself down and giving someone the chance to wonder why you even asked the question in the first place, if you thought it was stupid.

There are no stupid questions, except the ones you don’t ask. We all have gaps in our understanding of a process or technique that seems easy to someone else. Just ask the question and listen to the answer.

That sounds like a good idea, but …

If it’s a good idea, don’t put but in your sentence, which turns a good idea or plan into a negative pursuit. You are going to have to train yourself to look at the positive side of any ideas put to you. When you get the reputation for putting down all good ideas for success, you will be left out of the loop and any forward progress will happen without you.

Successful Internet Marketers don’t have the time for negative people in their business and won’t waste time overcoming your objections to new ideas.

You probably don’t have time to help me with …

When you make decisions about other people’s responses to your request for help, you usually get just what you asked for… someone with no time to help you.

That request for help could sound like you are whinging and it might not get you the help you want. Most Internet Marketers have been in the same place you are and will be glad to point you in the right direction if you ask for help directly.

Be specific with your request for help. Simply provide the details they might need to respond to your request. A better way to ask this question would be:

Do you have time to help me with…?

or

I’m a bit stuck and can’t seem to … Do you have any ideas?

Both of those questions are direct and positive and will almost certainly get you a response.

The Internet moves rapidly. Today’s news is tomorrow’s fish and chip paper. The people that succeed will keep up with the new processes and move on with a positive attitude.

It’s too good to be true.

Why? Why can’t it be “It’s good enough to be true” or “How am I going to do this?” Instant negativity is all around you and it is your job to dig it out of your automatic responses.

That statement is not helpful in any way. Of course, there’s a lot of hype all over the Internet and some of it really is too good to be true. But this is no reason to wrap every good idea in that negative comment.

Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

Whilst Murphy’s cynical comments on general mishaps can be a bit of a giggle, they also come with a mindset that can destroy the forward progress of a task.

To start with, it’s not a true statement, but a blanket warning about possibilities and could make you hesitate when you have some good ideas for your project.

So, give old Murphy’s Law the bums rush from your mind and definitely from your conversation.

I’ll try to get this done.

You’re giving yourself permission not to do the job you’ve tasked yourself to do. You won’t commit to getting it done in the time frame allowed. You’re setting up a reason to fail that takes the blame off you.

I hope this works out…

Again, you’re giving yourself permission to fail. Commit to getting the project done. Things are going to happen in any project that will be a hassle to fix and you need to to be 100% committed to getting it done. Take responsibility for your own success. Hoping will not get things done, but “doing” will.

Positive attitudes and actions are the cornerstone of all successful plans of action. Be positive. Be the “go-to guy” or “gal” who takes projects and makes them work. You can do it!

Traders Success and a Positive Mental Attitude

Successful futures traders have a positive mental attitude, and maintain that positive attitude every single day they trade. It takes confidence in your abilities, confidence in your decisions, confidence in your charts and confidence in your system to succeed as a futures trader. Confidence hinges on your mental attitude.

If you think you can do it, you will.

“Your actions affect your attitude and your attitude drives your actions. It can indeed be powerful to get your actions and your attitude working consistently in the same direction.”

I find these words from the Daily Motivator* of particular import to my life as a futures trader. More than anything else, your daily attitude affects your ability to perform successfully as a futures trader. If you stay positively focused, you will be able to assess your position with confidence and pull the trigger at the precise moment to ensure maximum profitability. If you allow negativity or self-doubt to eat away at your confidence, you will fail.

The Negativity Factor

Once negative thoughts creep into your thinking patterns, you start to second-guess your abilities, your decisions and your system. Pretty soon, you’re making bad trades, you can’t pull the trigger and things start crumbling around you. Without a positive attitude you cannot succeed as a futures trader. You will crash and burn before you complete the first lap.

Everyone has the occasional bad day. But whether it’s a trading loss or a crisis in your personal life, you can’t let feelings of negativity engulf you. You have to “shake it off,” “get back on the horse, “get back in the game.” Hackneyed though the sayings may be, they carry a large truth.

The only way to succeed is to refuse to allow yourself to be beaten down. You have to maintain faith in yourself and confidence in your ability to succeed. You have to stay positive.

Successful futures traders succeed because they have a positive mental attitude and believe in themselves and their system. It’s not the other way around. We’re not happy because we succeed. We succeed because we’re happy. A positive attitude gets positive results.

Cultivating Success Through Attitude

There are many ways to renew your positive energy each day. I enjoy a brisk walk or run in the early morning. The exercise recharges my physical batteries and participating in the beginning of a fresh, new day revitalizes my spirit. Exercise, daily motivations and personal affirmations are all ways to recharge your positive energy before you tackle a new trading day.

Because different approaches work better than others, you’ll need to experiment with and discover those activities that keep you positively motivated, and then make them a daily part of your life. The more positive energy you can maintain in your life, the better trader you’ll be.

Why is a Positive Mental Attitude Essential?

Success as a futures trader is 90% attitude. Develop a positive mental attitude and your success will increase as your skills grow. A positive mental attitude will allow you to:

1. Focus on making profitable trades. Even if you have a losing streak, positive focus will allow you to turn things around and snap back into the profit zone.

2. Focus on profit-making goals. A positive focus will give you the strength and courage to persevere if the going gets tough.

In his Daily Motivator of December 22, 2007, Ralph Marston says:

“Whether it’s through your actions or through your attitude, there’s always a way to introduce a more affirmative perspective into your life. Stay focused on the positive possibilities and life will continue to grow more richly rewarding.”

These are words to succeed by.

Find More Positive Success Articles

How to Have a Positive Attitude – No Matter What!

You have probably already heard that having a positive attitude is the key to experiencing a successful and happy life. And this is true. However, there are many times in life where it seems almost impossible to stay positive. When these things occur, you have to know how to keep your frame of mind positive, or else it will be far too easy to fall into depression and a state of mind that is detrimental to your success.

How can you stay positive no matter what?

Always keep references to good things fresh in your mind. Think of a fond memory and reflect on how that made you feel. The key is to make sure that you actually feel positive and you are not just playing back an image in your mind. You have to be able to almost feel as if it were occurring right now.

Another key point is to ALWAYS look for the hidden benefit that is present. No matter how bad the situation may seem, there is going to be something that you can reflect on as being a hidden benefit. Take a look at some of the world’s most successful people. Hidden in their stories of success are those of personal tragedies or obstacles that seemed to get in the way.

Yet, they used these experiences to motivate themselves to accomplish their dreams.

You can too.

Having a positive attitude is definitely important if you want to be able to live a HAPPY and SUCCESSFUL life. However, there is a little more to it.

Would you like to learn how to create your own positive success story?

Copyright © 2009 Bryan Appleton. All Rights Reserved.

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Question by Tuesday Smith: I just need some positive anxiety/depression “success” stories..?
I’ve suffered from minor (aka, short-lived, but on and off) depression for 15-20 years, and started getting anxiety and panic attacks about a year and a half ago. The depression sucks, but it’s only really bad for a day or two then goes away for weeks, so I’ve always just dealt with it. The anxiety has changed my life for the worse. I’m too scared to do anything, and I hate being alone. I’ve turned anti-social and really only leave the house because I have to go to work or school (adult student). When I do leave, I get stuck with the anxiety.

I’ve been completely holistic for 12 years, but nothing worked for the anxiety, so I decided to suck it up and go with meds. I’m petrified of them changing my personality, or becoming addicted, but I think I’m more petrified of living the way I have been for the last year and a half.

I’ve been prescribed celexa and ativan.. celexa for daily use and ativan for emergency use. I’m very scared, and as anyone who’s had anxiety knows, being scared of taking something that’s supposed to help not be scared, is a tricky situation.

I’ve been reading about those two drugs, but I’m in need of a few good stories about them. Positive ones, please.. I can’t handle any negative feedback on these right now!

Anyone have any success stories about celexa and ativan, or really any anxiety success stories?

Best answer:

Answer by Paranormal puddin’
I haven’t been on any anxiety meds, but I’m on Prozac right now and that has helped with my depression and anxiety a LOT. Coupled with therapy of course.

One MAJOR thing is believing that the medicine will help, that you WILL get better. Because you will, it can never be like this forever.

Give your answer to this question below!